minutes 460

THE university SENATE OF
MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Minutes of Meeting 460

27 February 2008

Synopsis:

(1) Provost Lovett-Doust presented information on startup funds for the University.

(2) The Senate heard that Proposals 13-08 (Quarter to Semester Clean-up), 14-08 (Minor in Law and Society), and 15-08 (Amendment for Plan C Option) have been approved.

(3) President Sloan called for suggestions on ways to strengthen the Senate.

(4) The Senate introduced Proposals 8-08: "Second Baccalaureate Degrees," 18-08: "Electric Power Engineering Certificate," and 19-08: "Electric Power Engineering Graduate Certificate."

(5) The Senate elected Rudy Luck to the Graduate Research Integrity Committee and Noel Urban as alternate.

1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

President Sloan called the University Senate Meeting 460 to order at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, 27 February 2008, in Room B45 EERC.

Secretary Glime called roll. Absent were at-large Senator Brenda Helminen and representatives from Army/Air Force ROTC, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Library, Materials Science and Engineering, Physics, and Academic Services A. Liaisons in attendance were SherAaron Hurt (USG) and Lakshmi Krishna (GSC). Auxiliaries currently has no elected representatives.

2. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS

Guests included Leonard Bohmann (Electrical & Computer Engineering) and Provost Lesley Lovett-Doust.

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

President Sloan announced that items 7a (Proposal 16-08, "GFC and Senate Resolution on Graduate Education") and 8b (Proposal 17-08, "Program Name Change – Electrical Engineering Technology") have been dropped from the agenda.

P. Nelson MOVED and Donovan seconded the motion to approve the agenda as modified. The motion to approve PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.

4. Presentation: "Research initiation funding" presented by Provost Lesley Lovett-Doust

Provost Lovett-Doust began by stating that the Research Office has been "digging for data." She compared startup funding across years and colleges/schools for AY2002-2007 (see Appendix for graphs). Funding comes from four sources: college/school, department, VPR, and other. The other category includes cost-shared equipment and the Tech Fund. Until 2004 it also included GTA positions for new faculty, but after that the GTA positions were included in departmental contributions.

Lovett-Doust indicated that she would like to compare startup money to the money that an individual later brings in. We want to use the funds well – they should be used as a catalyst to launch research. We also need to have space ready for use when the new hire starts.

Senator Luck asked how many engineering hires there were vs. sciences and arts. VP Polzien responded that among those needing startup funds during the 2002-2007 period there were 35 in engineering and 37 in sciences and arts.

Secretary Glime asked what the average startup funds were per faculty member elsewhere, stating that the total funding available per year for all hires in sciences and arts at MTU had averaged about $300 per year, an amount barely enough for one person.

Lovett-Doust responded that every case is individual and the only data she has are old. A chair hire may require more and disciplines and even sub-disciplines differ in their needs. It is better to have equipment already for a new person to use to make the most efficient use of funding.

The Provost asked Senators to let her know what questions to ask of the data.

5. approval of minutes from meeting 459

Polzien MOVED and Gotschalk seconded the motion to approve the minutes of Meeting 459 as presented. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.

6. President’s Report

Proposal Approvals: President Sloan reported that administrative approvals for Proposals 13-08 (Quarter to Semester Clean-up), 14-08 (Minor in Law and Society), and 15-08 (Amendment for Plan C Option) have been received.

Strengthening the Senate: Today’s Chronicle of Higher Education featured an article on Tech’s decertification election. It quoted Vice President for Advancement Shea McGrew as saying “We need to have more discussion about the role of faculty and governance and how to strengthen the University Senate. We believe that rather than having a union, having a strong University Senate is the answer.”

We rarely have such a timely opportunity to look into strengthening the Senate for both faculty and professional staff. Many ideas have already surfaced, some from a meeting of a small group of senior faculty with President Glenn Mroz earlier this week. The Senate executive committee will discuss strengthening the Senate at its meeting next week. From this meeting we should be able to come up with a list to discuss with president Mroz and bring back to the Senate for further action.

All of you can help by providing ideas for this discussion. Please e-mail me your comments to masloan or make them available to the Senate discussion list senatediscuss-l.

7. New Business

a. Proposal 8-08: "Second Baccalaureate Degrees" presented by Hugh Gorman, Curricular Policy Committee

Senator Gorman summarized the proposal, stating that it was primarily a clarification with a change from 25% of the credits to 32 credits minimum.

b. Proposal 18-08: "Electric Power Engineering Certificate" and 19-08: "Electric Power Engineering Graduate Certificate," presented by Hugh Gorman, Curricular Policy Committee

Gorman pointed out that the graduate certificate is an online program designed primarily for people already in industry.

Senator Smith asked if there were any such programs in Florida. Leonard Bohmann (Electrical & Computer Engineering) said no, but we should look into it.

Senator Luck asked if there was any nuclear component in the program. Bohmann responded there were no specific courses, but that it was not much different from coal-fired systems.

8. Election for "Graduate Research INtegrity Committee" member

There were three candidates for this position: Bruce Mork, Noel Urban, Rudy Luck. Rudy Luck was elected by clicker vote of the full Senate with Noel Urban as alternate.

9. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 6:05 pm.

Respectfully Submitted by Janice M. Glime

Secretary of the University Senate